Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot
Japanese |dubbing_studio = Copri International Studios |director = Rueben Guberman |translation = Manuel San Fernando |recorded = 1967-1968 |country = United States |orig_country = Japan |episodes = 26 |year = 1967-1968 }}Giant Robo (ジャイアントロボ, Jaianto Robo), marketed in the US as either Giant Robot or the more famously as Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot, is a 1967 Tokusatsu series produced by Toei Company, whom are most famous for their Super Sentai, and ran from October 11, 1967 to April 1, 1968. It was created by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, who is most famous for creating the similarly themed series Gigantor. Dubbing History In 1968, American International Pictures bought up the rights to Toei's Giant Robo series for dubbing and syndicated release on American television. This decision was in response to the unexpected success that United Artist had with the English release of Tsuburaya Production's Ultraman and the sudden demand for imported Japanese TV programming. The task for dubbing and re-scripting the series into Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot was given to three AIP regulars, Rueben Guberman, Manuel San Fernando and Salvatore Billitteri who did a remarkably faithful adaptation of the original dialogue and limited the censorship of the show which resulted in a show that was surprisingly violent for American Children's Television at the time. American International Pictures was so enthusiastic for the series that they compiled episodes 1, 2, 17, 10 and 26 (in that order) into a film under the title Voyage into Space for airing on Television movie blocks. Since the show had a real conclusion to its story, it made a movie length edit possible. It's highly possible that due to the success this show received in America and abroad that it convinced Toei to distribute more of their shows overseas. Cast Additional Voices *Paul Brown *Rueben Guberman *Kurt Nagel *Neil Patrick Notes *Most of the actors in the English Dub are presently unknown, a handful such as Bobbie Byers and Ted Rusoff were identified through anecdotes from them and Reuben Guberman. *The series was also dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese, Malay, Latin Spanish and Chinese. Of the other dubbed versions of the show, only the Chinese version is known to still exist in its entirety. Transmission *Both show and Compilation film. Video Releases See Also *''Giant Robo: The Animation'': A re-imagined version of this series. *''Gigantor'': A similarly themed series made by the creator of Giant Robo. *''Mighty Jack'' *''Ultra Seven'':'' The rival program that aired at the same time in Japan as ''Giant Robo. *''Ultraman'': ''Initially aired back to back with the ''Johnny Sokko dub of the show during the initial 1969-1980's broadcasts in America. *''Spectreman'': ''A Similarly themed series that often aired alongside some airings of ''Johnny Sokko ''in the United States. '' *''The Space Giants'':'' A Similarly themed series that often aired alongside some airings of ''Johnny Sokko ''in the United States. '' *''Ultraman Tiga'' *[[Ultraman (2019)|''Ultraman (2019)]] External Links *Johnny Sokko & his Flying Robot at the Anime News Network. *Johnny Sokko & his Flying Robot ''at the Internet Movie Database. Category:TV Series Category:Kaiju Series Category:Tokusatsu Category:American Dubbing Category:Dubs from the 1960's Category:TV Series from the 1960's Category:Toei Company Category:American International Pictures Category:Shout! Factory